Amazon’s Fleet Expansion a Boost for Israel Aerospace

Laborers work inside the cockpit of a passenger plane as they convert it into a cargo plane at Israel Aerospace Industries site in Ben-Gurion International Airport, Lod, Israel July 3, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen.

IAI, which also produces drones and satellites, has emerged since 2015 as the leader in converting Amazon’s growing fleet of Boeing 767 aircraft.

IAI workers, pictured above, have converted about 80 percent of Amazon’s fleet of around 40 aircraft from passenger to cargo use, according to the state-run company.

“We dismantle every part of the aircraft and rebuild as a cargo aircraft,” Yosef Melamed, general manager of IAI’s Aviation Group, told Reuters, noting workers seal off windows, rebuild cockpits and install larger doors.